Paint opacity

You might be lucky and find it written on your paint tube or bottle to let you know if your paint is opaque, transparent or semi-transparent. It could be written in words, or there could be a code of square boxes.

If you have a box which is empty or clear, this means the paint is transparent.

If your box has a diagonal line and the box is half clear and half black, then the paint is semi-transparent.

If the box is black and completely filled in, then the paint is opaque.

You may come across paints which don't have it written on in words or with the boxes in which case you can discover it for yourself. Download the smiley face sheet above (shown as Is my paint opaque or transparent.pdf) which I show in the video above and test your own paints. There is space for you to write the name and brand so you can make your own color reference charts for future use.